Latvala goes out as SS12 bites!

24 August 2013

Volkswagen's Jari-Matti Latvala has lost the lead on Rallye Deutschland after going off the road in treacherous conditions in SS12.

The Finn, who had a lucky escape in Arena Panzerplatte 1 this morning, just prior to the mid-day service, had built up a 14.8 second cushion. But he ran into a wood pile in Stein & Wein 2 and was unable to continue.

“Drama & chaos on SS12 @WRCGermany! @JariMattiWRC seems to have been off the road. Very slippery conditions,” Volkswagen said via Twitter.

“@JariMattiWRC went off the road and has to retire for today. He will restart @WRCGermany under Rally 2 regulations tomorrow,” VW added in a later Tweet.

“[I] clipped an obstacle in SS12 and damaged the car, tried to continue but now stopped,” Latvala said via his official Facebook page. “No further participation today. Will be back on the stages tomorrow morning under Rally 2 regs.”

Latvala meanwhile wasn't the only runner caught out by the wet conditions, as Thierry Neuville and Mads Ostberg had problems too.

Neuville had 'issues' at the same corner that claimed Latvala. Early reports suggest the Belgian damaged the exhaust on his Qatar M-Sport WRT-run Fiesta RS WRC, but he was able to continue, ending the test in the lead, albeit just 1.1 seconds up on Dani Sordo.

Qatar M-Sport team-mate Ostberg wasn't so lucky and after sliding off the road was unable to re-join. He had been running fifth.